What Makes a Good Coffee Shop and Sunergos Coffee

After moving to Louisville and getting settled as to where things were I thought a good date with my wife would be to visit every coffee shop and try their coffee. I literally tore two yellow pages out of our phone book and proceeded to pick out shops, go to them and write notes on how the experience was. I would tell my friends about this and recommend coffee shops to them. I did this before I ever started blogging. These dates quickly got narrowed down to coffee shops that roasted their own beans. I do believe that we made it to every coffee shop in town.

Now you can find a lot of opinions on what people think makes for a good experience at a coffee shop and I want to add mine. First, the coffee, it has to taste good. We are learning about cupping and the art of tasting coffee. We can experience the aroma, flavor profile, aftertaste and body. I understand different roasts. So this may be over simplifying by me, but after the first couple of sips, does it taste good?! Would I buy a bag of this to make at home? Would I want to share this with my friends because it is that good? A good coffee shop has to have good coffee, period.

Second, is the staff friendly and knowledgeable? If the place is not too busy, I will ask questions and I would like good answers. I go as a learner. The more I learn about coffee, the more I realize I still need to learn. I want baristas who know how to interact with me without acting like a snob or like I am a pest. Will they help me learn about their coffee and roasting methods and brewing styles?

Passion is a word that is both over used and misused too much today. Here’s a word I like better when talking about coffee, enthusiasm. Is the staff enthusiastic about helping me learn about their coffee? Here is an important lesson; if the coffee is not that good the first time, I will go back and give them another chance if the staff practices good customer service.

Location is the third component in making a good coffee shop experience for me. If I am on a date and exploring with my wife, I really don’t care where it is located. But if I am going to go back regularly I would like a location with good parking. It doesn’t matter if it has a parking lot or you park on the street. Does the shop have good access?

The fourth component for me is atmosphere. My wife will walk around and look at the art and I will look at the coffee bags. So put the roast date on the bag. Anyone who knows anything about coffee will not buy a bag of coffee without a roast date. I personally don’t care if the furniture is old, new or borrowed. I don’t care how many tables or couches are available. I like background music, but not overly loud music. When I am out with Kim, I want to be able to hear what she is saying to me across a small table. I’m somewhat flexible about the atmosphere because I’m going there with my date (wife), I like to explore new places and I want to try your coffee and sincerely hope it is good.

Now when you put all of that together in Louisville you come up with Sunergos (www.sunergoscoffee.com). They have good coffee. My wife and I have not had a bad cup there. We liked some better than others, but there coffee is good. We have purchased it by the bag and shared it.

The baristas are friendly, knowledgeable, and patient. They like to help customers learn. They know how to make good coffee drinks too. I had my very first cappuccino there last week. Kim and I shared two, the first one was a Costa Rican Don Mayo and the second one was the Sunergos Blend. They were better than I thought they would be. Kim really liked them. The barista’s artwork was pretty good too. We also shared an espresso; it had a slightly sweet and sour taste to me. I think it was a Nicaraguan and it was very intriguing. Then we took home a cup of their Peruvian Centrocafe which was their daily offering.

Their two locations (Preston St. and Woodlawn Ave.) are convenient and the atmosphere is good too. We can sit down and talk and like looking around. It is a pleasure to go back there and enjoy some coffee and conversation. I’ve even taken out of town guests there too.

There you have my two cents on what makes a good coffee shop and a coffee shop that lives up to that. If you are ever in Louisville or driving by it I would encourage you to stop and try the coffee at Sunergos. Until next time, remember to stop and enjoy the coffee.